Angelique Kerber blitzed Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, while Johanna Konta beat down on Zhang Shuai also in straight sets to set up a tasty Australian Open semifinal matchup. Kerber and Konta are both surprise entrants in the final four of Women’s Singles in the year’s first Grand Slam. Which one gets to continue her Cinderella Story?
Angelique Kerber marched into the semifinals of the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over former champion Victoria Azarenka. She polished off the match 6-3, 7-5 with her excellent return game. Kerber won 51 percent of receiving points against Azarenka, including 6 of 13 break points. She was excellent on her approach shots, winning 55 percent of net points.
Kerber has been excellent and all, but she’ll need much more than her defensive style if she wants to advance to the final. She won just 58 percent of her first serve points against Azarenka. She has not won more than 58 percent of her first serve points in her last two matches at the Australian Open.
The German still has a lot of work to do with her first serve. But being able to limit her unforced errors has been a huge help. Kerber has not committed more than 20 unforced errors in a match in her last two outings. Her wait-and-see approach should match up very well against semifinal opponent Johanna Konta, who doesn’t play with plenty of power and ferocity.
Kerber is 10-2 on hard court thus far in 2016.
Betting on Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta started off her Australian Open campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 demolition of eighth seed Venus Williams in the first round. Konta is now on her way to her first Grand Slam semifinal after a dominant 6-4, 6-1 victory over Shuai Zhang. She gets a pretty tough dance partner as well, Angelique Kerber.
For Konta to record another upset, she’ll need to keep sharp on serve. She has won 73 percent of her first serve points in the tournament thus far, along with 21 aces. Keeping sharp on serve should help her get past Kerber’s solid return game.
Konta isn’t too shabby on the return either. She has won 47 percent of her return points through the quarterfinals, along with 47 percent of break point opportunities. She should be able to hold her own against Kerber, who has struggled greatly with her serve at the tournament.
Konta is on a five-match win streak on hard court, all in the Australian Open.
Writer’s Prediction
Konta records another upset to enter the Australian Open final.
